Whether we’re sewers, crafters, artists, or musicians, we all need a place to “be creative”. So here’s a little peek into my creative space. Can you see it hiding back there?I’ve never had a sewing room until 5 months ago. In our old 2 bedroom apartment, both my machines sat permanently at our kitchen table. So when we doubled our space in our new house I told my husband I needed my own room. That translated into a Sewing Nook (sitting in the same room as our office). But I’m more than happy with my own little piece of creativity.And here it is. Breathe it in and then, let’s move to the back corner….My husband got me this thread rack for my birthday. Yipee! I think I could use another….If you know me, you know that I love to repurpose, well, anything. Most things can be transformed or used for something else. And though I wouldn’t call myself a “pack rat” (I do know my limits) I’m always looking for a way to reuse the old treasures I find. This basket used to be brown. A coat of Turquoise spray paint, and now it’s my notions basket:Under the basket is a box (that someone at work was throwing away. Dude, that’s a nice box! I took it) I keep random card-making supplies, shipping labels, most paper-craft things I need. I know, I know, you scrapbookers are gasping right now. Those are ALL the papery things she owns? Well there’s a bit more in the closet but yea. Mostly I’m a fabric girl.Behind the box is something that every sewing room needs….baby wipes. I actually have a box of these in most rooms in the house. After sewing and serging for a few days, a clean wipe on the table is so very refreshing:On top of my wipes is a funny little box I found in the Target Dollar section. Not sure what it’s for but it fits all my bobbins just fine!And a cute little cup from Goodwill to hold my pens, seam ripper, and tweezers (the only way to thread your serger):My desk is from IKEA. I researched, knew I wanted it, and found it the next day on Craigslist. How I love that Craigslist.And the top billing items of the room….my Sewing machine and Serger! Both are Bernina. Both are lovely. They can be a bit pricey but they have been wonderful. Of course what I’m sure you’re more interested in is the fun artwork on the wall?Let’s get a close-up. Back in May I became friends with Rachel of THIS cool shop and fell in love with her stuff. We did a trade. My Market Skirt for her beautiful Abraham Lincoln quote painting on the left. And just for fun, she made me the cute little painting on the right (it was right around the time I’d been making the Shirt Dress). Too sweet of her:And yep, there they are. They’re heavy. All metal. The Bernina 1008 Sewing Machine and the 800 DL Serger:Under my sewing table are some cubby holes. This little (cabootle? are they still called that?) container makes me laugh. My mom got it for me 6 years ago when I started sewing again. At that point it fit all of my sewing supplies. My, how that has expanded.Now it holds…..serging thread! And just so you know….I’m a lazy serger-er. I only thread my machine with 3 threads (instead of 4). Which means less spools for me to stash!Below the thread is a very classy way to hold my “patterns”….in a Target shopping bag. I need to find a cuter container. By “Patterns” I mean…..clothing items that my kids have grown out of which I either use as a guideline for something new or I completely destroy it and take it apart to use as a pattern for a similar pair of pants, etc:Okay, moving on. You still with me? Let’s head up to the shelves. My husband made these for me. Simple. Just for holding treasures. A clock, a gumball trophy from the You Were Spotted Awards, a little glass box and well….let’s move in closer…..This little basket used to be in my kitchen. Now it’s the perfect spot to hold inventory items that need to be mailed out. In this case, little ruffled heart cards from the Craft Hope for Haiti cause:I love this box. I feel like a 4 year old princess-loving girl when I open it. My boss sent me flowers inside of it when I gave birth Lucy 4 years ago and I’ve held on to it ever since. Want to peek inside?Well, what else would be inside a green box, but GREEN bills? I usually keep random cash in here. Money I made at a craft show or from hairclip sales or whatever. Yea, don’t be too jealous. There’s only 7 bucks in there.I often tear things out of magazines if I like the color or design. So we have a little thrifted frame, spray painted orange, with a photo of an orange bathroom. And in the cheap IKEA boxes to the right…..ooooo. I love things that are simple. And colorful. And clean. I just love looking at these boxes stacked up:all sorts of Elastic:And my clothing labels! Peeking in this box feels like candy to me. I just want to run my fingers through all those little yellow tags. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I switched these from the picture above where they were in the pink box. Or as Dr. Richard Kimble says, “You switched the samples.”Moving down is a dresser I bought at a garage sale and gave a white/turquoise face-lift to. The phone on the left is from my working days at Universal. They had an “asset sale” (selling old props from our movies) and this was one of the phones from The Cat in the Hat. Not that it was a cool movie, but it’s a pretty cool phone!in the button box next to the phone are….Buttons! My stash needs to grow a bit.And at the far right are magazine boxes for my sketch book (which I’m not very good at), sewing machine manuals, magazines, a notebook for inspiring photos, pattern pieces, and whatever else needs to be kept “safe”:The drawers are full of trim, ribbons, feathers, bias tape, and I’m not even sure what else is in there….Another random find. This little bag once held a 7-pack of girls panties from H&M. Now it’s the perfect container for all my zippers!There’s a box on the floor for my scraps (boring moving box. I need something cuter). A basket for “current” things I’m working on. And a cutting mat:Just one of my fabric cabinets. There’s another…..and another…..and a few bins. But we’ll just show you this one. Notice the Non-Fray Nylon chiffon on the second shelf? More Can-Cans on the horizon….?And one other item that every sewing room needs: a Lint Roller. Before I ship anything out to customers, everything gets a roll with the Lint Brush:And probably my favorite part of the room, LIGHTS! From IKEA, my husband hung these for me and they are deevine. Want to see them switched on? Okay.Ta-Da! And there you have it folks. Dana’s sewing room, in a nut shell (or a nook). So when it’s 11pm and you’re checking one last blog before heading to bed, you can picture me sitting right there in that chair, machines humming away, as I yell over my shoulder, I’ll be done in 5 minutes!It’s a sewing life. Thanks for stopping by!

This room looks great! I’ve been trying to add more and more storage units and organizers to my currently-messy crafting corner. Thanks for more ideas! Also, do you think you could give me the link to those bins (the ones that hold elastic and tags)? Thanks!

I really enjoyed the tour of your sewing nook. I am just starting back into sewing and have looked everywhere for fabric labels for little girl dresses i have been making. I really like the “TISH TOSH LOLLIPOP” AND “LOLLIPOP PARADE” labels but you have to order between 500 and 1000. The minimum i would need is no more than 100. Do you know where i can purchase them?

Nice! My sewing space is about that size. Lately I have been working on making a shelf for it and I just recently painted a large canvas with chevron to hang on my wall! Below is my sewing room post I wrote a few months back. It does look different now 🙂http://projectsgirl.blogspot.com/2015/10/sewing-room-redo.html

Hi Dana! The new website is so up-to-date and styilish, but… Can you please please please shrink your agenda so you can fit the tour of your new studio in LookOutLane? Please, I’m really eager to find all the solutions you have up on your sleeve!

I love your sewing area! I wish I had one like it, but i’m 14 years old and I share a room with two sisters. We don’t have an extra room to use for sewing. I recently started using a sewing machine that someone gave to me quite a while ago. It is from the company Pfaff, and is a model hobby 1122. My sister Penny has a sewing machine that someone gave to her also.( it’s also from Pfaff.) We taught ourselves how to sew. I love sewing, but we have a very small corner in our room, and my oldest sister doesn’t like the noise of the sewing machine. I love watching your videos; I have already made the circle skirt,zipper pouch, and the bow.( I put the bow on the zipper pouch:) Someone gave us a bunch of fabric, which was a big blessing, and all of the sewing supplies we have now, came from our grandma. Any tips for me for space in our little corner? By the way, we have also been wanting to start a website; you’re an inspiration. We’ve learned a lot from you.

What a space – and so neat and tidy!! Some of your ideas you must have stolen from me (Never). Like, one of your drawers – looks just like mine and when I get in my sewing room I don’t know when to stop and I’m always calling “I’m soon finished – just have to finish a couple lines of sewing!! Good to see how others operate. Thanks!